I’ve said my goodbyes. I really don’t expect The Tote to reopen and be the same as it was. I don’t really know what I was expecting — perhaps it would become some kind of rock ‘n’ roll disco, or maybe a quiet local’s pub. Hell, it could’ve been knocked down to make way for a car park, a Red Rooster, or medium-density housing.

So why aren’t I jumping for joy on the eve of the venue’s reopening?

I’m worried about the new owners, Seventh Tipple. For many years they’ve operated Pony in the CBD, which has served as the destination for trendy young things looking to get smashed and make out with strangers since the days I counted myself as young and lucky enough to be allowed in.

They also operate Bar Open, a long-lived venue on Brunswick Street which has a history of getting bohemian types smashed since the long gone days when hip­pies actually lived in the area. It also provides the perfect venue for making out with strangers thanks to its many dark corners.

Recently Seventh Tipple have opened Yah Yah’s in Collingwood which is fast be­com­ing a noted destination for trendy folks in their late twen­ties and early thir­t­ies for getting smashed and making out with strangers.

Notice a pattern?

Hopefully I’m wrong. Hopefully it’s just me who sees this pattern and that my ob­ser­va­tions of Seventh Tipple venues aren’t typical. But some­how I doubt it.

The Tote reopens today to a selection of industry folks, a sharp contrast to the the way it closed a few months ago.

Back then, only staff, musicians playing on the night and a couple of hundred pun­ters were allowed in for a day of ear-shattering, deb­auch­er­ous rock ‘n’ fuck­ing roll. The pun­ters allowed in were the ones lucky enough to snaffle tick­ets in a half hour period from a website which, under immense load, was rend­ered alent­er­tain­mentmost use­less. I would’ve given a lot to be there, but un­for­tun­ately couldn’t get a tick­et.

Now, Seventh Tipple have invited the Age in for an exclusive first look at The Tote 2.0, and tonight’s launch will be exclusively attended by those in the ent­er­tain­ment industry. The cynic in me imagines Angela Bishop and Richard Wilkins interviewing Molly Meldrum on the red carpet leading into the band room out back.

As I said, I hope I’m wrong. Seventh Tipple deserve a lot of credit for re-hiring a lot of the original staff and trying to stay true to the venue’s much-loved history.

All I’m saying is that I’m not getting my hopes up.